There is interest in using glass in roll-to-roll fabrication of flexible electronic or other devices. Flexible glass web can have several beneficial properties related to either the fabrication or performance of electronic devices, for example, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electrophoretic displays (EPD), organic light emitting diode displays (OLEDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), touch sensors, photovoltaics, etc. A critical component in the use of spooled flexible glass in roll-to-roll processes is the ability to splice web segments together (either be it one glass portion to another, or a glass portion to a leader/trailer material). The splice technology for the plastic, metal, and paper industry is mature, and techniques are known. Glass web, however, has a unique set of properties and requires unique splice designs and processes.
To enable use at higher temperatures that a glass web enables, recently wider splice tape with increased surface area has been used. This wider splice tape enables more adhesion between the leader/trailer and the glass web. The wider splice tape, however, also allows an increased chance for entrapped gas between the tape and the web. This entrapped gas under the tape can expand to form gas blisters, for example, when the spliced web is put into a vacuum deposition system. The expansion may become even more significant when heat is introduced. Mechanical failures of the splice and also fracturing of the glass web have been observed and attributed to these entrapped gas blisters under the splice tape. Accordingly, there is a need for practical solutions for splicing glass web portions to one another or to other web materials, for example leader/trailer material, that reduce the potential for entrapped gas blisters and the probability of splice failure.